


Blokes Like Us

by Mr_Pinniped



Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Gay Awakening, Gen, Gilderoy Lockhart is MC's first crush, M/M, Male Player Character (Hogwarts Mystery), Ravenclaw, Teens being teens, Video Game: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 05:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20670035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_Pinniped/pseuds/Mr_Pinniped





	Blokes Like Us

“It really is a pity Alchemy isn’t offered as part of the main curriculum at Hogwarts,” Rowan nudged open the door to their dormitory with his hip so as not to dislodge the stack of books he carried in his arms. “But I’ve heard NEWT-level students sometimes take correspondence courses at other schools, maybe we could do that?”

“Maybe, once we’re NEWT-level. That’ll still be a while,” Connor followed his best friend into the surprisingly quiet room- it appeared that all their dorm-mates were either in other parts of the castle or, if the soft muffled sounds of speech punctuated by the occasional loud crackling were any indication, playing Exploding Snap in the adjoining suite.

“True. In the meantime, at least we’ve got these!” Rowan indicated the pile of books from the Library.

“And,” Connor dug around in his trunk, “We’ve got this one!” He triumphantly held up a thick hardcover book entitled  _ Principles of Elemental Chemistry _ .

Rowan picked it up in fascination. “The picture on the cover isn’t moving,” he noted.

“Muggles study alchemy too, but they call it ‘chemistry’ instead. A few of my uncles were adamant that Jacob and I learned the Muggle version of ‘natural philosophy,’ as they called it.” Connor allowed himself a quiet giggle at the memory of his two dozen ghostly ancestors arguing over his primary education, “But mum and dad didn’t want us to learn everything from the ghosts’ old texts, so they got us a few more up-to-date science books as well.”

Connor set the book on his nightstand between his and Rowans’ beds where his best friend could see it and flipped open to the cover page “See, the Muggle table of elements looks a bit different than ours- that’s because they’re arranged by electrical charge rather than thaumaturgical.” Rowan skimmed over the periodic table in Connor’s textbook, comparing it to the one in the library’s copy of  _ Magical Properties of Matter _ that lay open on his lap. 

“Great! So we can look up the Muggle answer to a problem if the magical answer doesn’t make sense, and vice-versa. And, if we’re learning Alchemy on our own now, you’ll have more to talk about when you write to Aurelie!”

“Yeah… Aurelie.” Connor muttered, thinking about the girl from Beauxbatons who had just left the day before. He picked up the jar of magical butterflies she had given him and turned it over in his hands. Previously, watching the delicate blue wings flap about had left him feeling invigorated, but now it just made him reflect on the past week. He’d already been sort of interested in Alchemy, and Aurelie had helped pique his interest even more, but was it merely academic curiosity that motivated him? The butterflies swirled around slowly, giving absolutely no insight to his questions.

“Connor, I think you stopped listening.” Rowan paused midway through reading a passage about the twelve uses of dragon’s blood and closed the book. “Is something bothering you?”

“Sorry, Rowan. I, well...” Connor rubbed the bridge of his nose. 

Truth be told, Merula had taunted him about spending time with Aurelie, the other day, after Potions class. “Got a girlfriend, Murgatroyd?” Connor was well-accustomed to brushing off Merula’s barbs, especially one as uncreative as this. But her words had continued to niggle at him. He started to wonder if perhaps wandering around the castle looking for artifacts of alchemy was perhaps an esoteric courtship practice he had been hitherto unaware of. And then, of course, when Aurelie had been about to depart for Beauxbatons again, she had...

“Rowan, is it supposed to be exciting when a girl kisses you?”

The sounds of conversation from the next room stopped abruptly and the heads of several of Ravenclaw’s second and third-year boys immediately popped through the door.

“What’s this now? Connor’s been kissing girls?” Wesley Travers asked, striding over to offer Connor a high-five.

“No, not exactly--”

“Nice job, Murgatroyd!” Dorian Knox followed Wes and flopped onto Rowan’s bed, propping his chin in his hands. “Was she pretty?”

“Well--”

“Must’ve been, if she got Murgatroyd’s attention!” Miles Blake leaned against Connor’s bedpost and grinned approvingly.

“Well, she’s French?”

“You French-kissed?” Wes squealed. 

“No! No, that’s not what I mean at all,” said Connor, his voice remaining steady though his insides were beginning to squirm at the sudden attention. “She  _ IS  _ French. And, I mean, that’s how they always say goodbye, isn’t it? A kiss on both cheeks?”

“I’ve been to France once, when I was little- I don’t really remember,” Rowan mused, setting the alchemy book aside and opening his History of Magic textbook as if he thought it might inform him of the intricacies of French culture.

Connor shook his head. “Anyway, it felt a little strange, but I don’t think in the way it was supposed to?”

“How do you mean?” asked Dorian.

Connor looked at his assembled dorm-mates. “Have any of you ever been kissed by a girl?”

“I have. It was awesome.” Miles slid his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose and waggled his eyebrows at the assembled second-years.

“Well, you’re a year older than us,” Jason said, “So you’ve had more of a chance.”

“Who was it then?” Wes asked.

“Emily Tyler,” Miles grinned, “On New Years’ Eve, behind one of those ice sculptures the Ministry puts up at the holidays. Turns out her dad works in the same office as my mum.” 

“What was it like?” Connor asked.

“I remember her arms around my shoulders, and my hands on her waist. Her breath smelled like fresh fruit. And her lipstick left a little bit of a print on my mouth. I felt sort of tingly for hours afterwards.”

“Wow,” said Jason.

“Do you feel tingly, Connor?” asked Dorian.

“Not really,” said Connor, “I don’t really feel anything. It wasn’t really any different than when my mum or dad kisses me.”

“Dude, kissing a girl is  _ way _ different than kissing your mom,” Miles said, looking at Connor incredulously. “Are you sure you did it right?”

“What’s there to do wrong?” Connor asked. “Lips, cheeks, go like that-” he pursed his lips in the air.

“Do you  _ like _ her though?” Wes asked.

“Aurelie? Well, we have a lot in common. She likes alchemy and astronomy, and she likes investigating mysteries, and I guess she’s just really nice? I’m hoping to stay friends with her.”

“ _ Just _ friends?” asked Miles.

“Well, I don’t think she is going to be my girlfriend, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know? I’m not sure I want  _ anyone  _ to be my girlfriend right now. I guess I’m only a second-year, is that too young to start liking girls? Have any of you ever had a crush?”

Several of the boys in the room nodded, though Rowan shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve had a crush either, Connor.”

Andre quirked an eyebrow at Rowan. “You sure about that?”

“Pretty sure, why?”

“No handsome older redheads attracting your attention, perhaps?”

Rowan blushed. “I do NOT have a crush on Bill Weasley! I just… I just think he's really cool! And smart! And brave! And... Why does everyone think I  _ like _ him?”

The rest of the boys burst into sniggers and Andre just shook his head. “Never mind, Rowan. You’ll figure it out eventually. Now, Connor,” Andre clambered over from where he had been sitting on his own bed and perched on the floor beside Connor, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Take a look up at Lockhart.” Andre pointed towards the nearly life-sized poster of the Wizarding World’s most popular up-and-coming author that hung on the inside of the dormitory door. “You’ve said before you think he’s handsome, right?”

“Well, yeah,” said Connor, “I mean- his hair, his jawline, his smile…”

“Right,” said Andre. “Now think about Aurelie. Do you think she’s pretty like Lockhart?”

Connor paused and considered. “I guess… I liked how the Beauxbatons uniform looked- she definitely has style. But her face… just looks like a face I guess? She looks like a person.”

“Ok,” Andre continued, “Are there  _ any _ girls you think are pretty? Or even just better-looking than other girls?”

Connor thought through a list of his friends and classmates. Penny had neat braids, he supposed. Tonks looked... well, Tonks could look like anyone, so that was hardly reasonable to consider. Badeea always wore nice clothes, but he suspected that wasn’t the answer Andre was looking for either. He finally shook his head, unable to answer. 

“What about boys?”

Charlie Weasley’s laughing face immediately appeared in Connor’s mind, and he was unable to stop a slight pink tinge from appearing on his cheeks. 

Andre smirked and spoke in a self-satisfied tone. “Well, Connor, I don’t want to be overly presumptuous, but, has it ever occured to you that you might be gay?”

Connor leaned back against the bedpost as his jaw dropped. Could that be it? Sure, he had always friends who were boys and friends who were girls. But he’d always sort of assumed he was supposed to look at the girls romantically- after all, that was the usual way, wasn’t it? Certainly that was what he had gathered from the stories of the twenty-seven ghosts in his household. He supposed, a few of them had mentioned having affairs with men, though some of the others would usually shush them as if doing so was particularly scandalous. But of course, the ghosts had all lived some time ago, and Connor was living now, where same-sex partnerships were relatively uncommon, but not considered shameful, at least throughout most of the Wizarding World.

“I think you broke him.” Dorian poked Connor’s stultified face.

“No, Andre, I think you’re right.” Connor finally said, shaking his head and batting Dorian’s hand away.

“That really makes perfect sense, Connor!” Rowan chimed in. 

“You think so?” Connor asked his best friend. 

“Yeah!”

“I’m surprised you hadn’t thought of it yourself, honestly,” Andre remarked, casually glancing up at the Lockhart poster, “I certainly knew I liked boys by the time I was eight or nine.”

“Wait, you’re gay too, Andre?” Miles looked incredulous. “But you’re so good at sports!”

“Athletic ability and sexual orientation are not related, Blake.” Andre shook his head at his Quidditch teammate. “Just look at the Holyhead Harpies- everyone knows half the girls on the team end up married by the time they retire, and they’ve been at least in the semifinals every year for the past decade.”

“I guess,” said Miles, “Though my stepdad always says--”

“He’s American, and a Muggle,” Andre interjected, standing up and looking Miles in the eye. Despite being a year younger, Andre nearly reached his teammate’s height, and was considerably broader in the shoulders. “You’ve mentioned his opinions before, but I think you should think carefully before repeating them here.” 

Miles opened his mouth briefly, then closed it again. “You’re right.” He turned to Connor. “Congratulations on figuring yourself out, I guess.” 

“Thanks? But I’d really like to get back to studying Alchemy, if it’s all right with all of you?” Connor pointed at the open book that was still on his lap. 

“Of course, Murgatroyd would rather study than talk about his love life,” Dorian laughed.

“Admitting a crush on a famous author is hardly a _love life_.” Connor mumbled. His face broke into a wicked grin. “Besides, Blake just told us that he kissed Emily Tyler. Why don’t you ask _him_ more questions?”

“OR, we could get back to our game of Snap,” Miles said suddenly, attempting to sidle back into the adjoining room “We left the cards in the middle of a hand, after all…” the others followed him, clambering for more details while Miles continued to pretend he didn’t want to talk about Emily.

Moments later, Andre slipped back into the room, and dropped a small object onto Connor’s nightstand. Connor picked it up. It was a bracelet, made from braided strands of rainbow-colored string. 

“Dunno if you’re interested in showing publicly, yet,” Andre began, “But blokes like me- I mean, like  _ us _ , sometimes wear these bracelets in order to recognize each other. I tend to keep mine a little more discreet most of the time,” Andre tugged at his trouser leg to reveal the well-worn rainbow braid around his ankle, “But it’s useful for finding friends, or even dates if you’re looking.” 

“Well, I’m certainly not looking for dates right now,” Connor said, picking up the bracelet Andre had given him and turning it over in his hands before pulling his watch out of his pocket and tying the string around his watch-chain, pausing to habitually run his fingers over the engraving his brother Jacob had made on the casing. “But I certainly don’t mind showing who I am. Thank you, Andre.” He looked up into the other boy’s eyes and the two shared a smile. 

A loud crackle emanated from the other dorm, followed by a shout of “Egwu, get back here! It’s your turn, and Knox just eliminated half my deck!”

Andre shook himself and rapidly patted Connor’s shoulder before turning to rejoin the Exploding Snap game. “Welcome to the team, Murgatroyd. I’m glad to have you.” 


End file.
